Post-Paralympics, what's changed?

I was quite challenged by this discussion starter on the new Church Growth Research Programme website

My team did quite a bit of research for a major Diocese, looking at the growth rates for churches that said they were more accessible for disabilities (hearing, sight, autism, wheelchair access etc). The more accessible, the faster the growth - even for small rural Listed churches. 

Why? Who knows. But it's true in outside industry that a more accessible building and warm welcome for difference is a good thing for everyone, not just the disabled person. But fascinating that at present so few churches even buy a £10 large print bible or hymn book, let alone spend £10 on tape to edge doors and steps so that those with visual impairment can see where they are. 

Clergy get no training on disability, therefore may have no clue how to maximise growth and serve their 14 million disabled parishioners well (even leaving aside the Equality Act 2010 which makes it illegal to fail to do so). 

What could we do to investigate this further, I wonder?

Hands up, I loved the paralympics, joined in the chorus of approval, but it hasn't led to me doing anything tangible as a church leader to make our church more inclusive to people with disabilities. We print off large print versions of the songs each week, but there's probably a lot more we could do.

Double Standards

A couple of media stories:

Powerful piece on our double standards over abortion law, in the light of the paralympics.

Natalia Partyka was born without a right hand and forearm. She won her first international table tennis medal at the disabled world championship when she was 10. She has won more than 30 medals since. Steve Brown is Great Britain’s wheelchair rugby captain. Following an accident he broke his neck and trapped his spinal chord and is now paralysed from the chest down.

Both these individuals smash the convenient myth that aborting a disabled child is an act of mercy that cut shorts a miserable, undignified and frustrating life. This specious argument is incessantly advanced to justify Britain’s abortion law, which allows abortion up to birth if the child is “severely disabled” (but in practice covers easily corrected conditions such as cleft palates).

And a bizarre reaction to the latest retail sales figures. "The feel good factor from the Olympics failed to inspire spending" said the British Retail Consortium. It's a peculiar idea that automatically links feeling better to spending more. How many people, after watching Mo Farah win his second gold, immediately jumped off their sofas and though 'right, I'd better get down to Tesco and buy something' as an integral part of their celebrations? 

There's something insidious about the suggestion that our response to anything significant ought to be shopping. Is that all we are? The government thinks so: it's rumbling about making the Olympic extension to Sunday trading hour permanent. Good to see the boss of Sainsbury's speaking out against this last month. What a dismal Olympic legacy that would be.